VGJ Thunder, a Dota 2 team with a 16th overall world ranking, emerged victorious in the recently concluded Galaxy Battles II tournament held at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan over the weekend.

The Chinese squad struggled at first after getting beaten by Evil Geniuses in the third round of the winners bracket. They then went on to the losers bracket, and eventually powered their way through for a rematch with the top US team in the Grand Finals.

There, VGJ Thunder managed to pull off an upset over Evil Geniuses as they completed a sweep during their best of five series to take home the $200,000 (about P10.1 million) grand prize.

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Meanwhile, local favorites TNC didn’t do so well after they were eliminated by longtime rival team OG. Fortunately, the Pinoy Dota heroes bowed out from the tournament with a guaranteed $35,000 (roughly P1.7 million) payday.

Galaxy Battles II previously had a whopping $1 million prize pool but Valve revoked its sponsorship due to stringent Government regulations that included a drug test for e-sports players. This move effectively stripped the tourney’s status as a Dota 2 Major which meant the qualifying points that professional teams competed for were removed.